Lost Identities
by willow.danielle
Summary: Bella faces the bizarre consequences of being hit by two curses at once. Claire tries to honour Cedric's memory. Janice faces scrutiny for being a werewolf. Lexie's back with Draco and dabbling in dark magic, and she's finding it more and more difficult to balance two sides of her personality. Oh, and the devil has arrived, in the form of Umbridge. Part 5/7 of the Lost series
1. Grimmauld Place

**Hi, you guys! This is the first chapter of fifth year. As you can see the old format is back again, I've decided I like this one slightly better. The story sets off in the summer of fifth year at Sirius' place, but don't worry last year's events will be a major theme in this chapter. Please let me know what you think in a review!**

* * *

 _ **CH. 1 Grimmauld Place**_

POV CLAIRE GIBBS:

I hadn't really slept since that day. That summer day of the Final Task. When Harry returned with the Triwizard Cup in his hands at Cedric at his feet.

The rest seemed to have happened so fast. I froze up entirely, since I was the first in the audience to catch up on what was going on. The rest was still cheering. I barely registered Lexie's hand clutching mine, or Bella's 'oh please no'.

Amos Diggory had been seated to my right, he too had been clapping at first. He saw, too, the inescapable truth. Cedric was dead, gone, never coming back.

I have a photographic memory. Every detail, every word of the evening is set as stone in my memory. Whenever I think about that evening, the events of the funeral follow immediately after.

Amanda Diggory had left the house for the first time since her husband had been buried. Janice was awfully quiet, wanting to remain out of sight as much as possible. I'd written a speech, but the words wouldn't come so Bella and Lexie read it together.

I vividly recall Mr. Diggory, standing in front of his son's coffin, all alone. These memories plague me every day and every night.

My friends had expected me to sulk. They had expected me to starve myself again, like I did after I found my father. They may have also expected me to throw myself on my studies. I did none of those things.

I ate, I tried to do things that made me feel better. I had hardly touched my school books, merely to skim through. I knew he would want me to be happy and strong. I don't think I believe in heaven, Walhalla or any other sort of afterlife, but I do believe he would have hated for me to go to that dark place again.

I'm not happy, and I'm certainly not strong, but I'm trying for him. He made my life so much better when he was with me. I don't want that to be for nothing.

When I heard about the Order of the Phoenix, I wanted to do my part. I'm no good in a fight, but I am persistent. I don't give up. I wanted to honour Cedric's memory, and I thought being part of an alliance against the thing that killed him was a fine way to do that besides taking care of myself.

And for the record, yes, I do believe Harry's story. People who claim otherwise defile Cedric's memory.

That summer, my friends and I ended up staying at Sirius' house. I shared the biggest room with Bella, Lexie and Janice. Hermione and Ginny were staying in the room across the hallway, and Ron and the twins slightly further down.

Mrs. Weasley was, not surprisingly, always fussing about everyone. She had decided I needed fussing about the most.

"You've been through too much for your age, dear," she said. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

My mother was never quite such a mother hen, so Mrs. Weasley's behaviour was endearing but also slightly getting on my nerves.

"How've you been getting on with that letter for the Prophet?" Bella asked at breakfast.

I'd been writing to see if the statements about Cedric's death could be rectified. The Prophet had proceeded to call me 'mad with grief'.

"I'm telling you, next time you should send a bloody Howler," said Ron. "They can't keep ignoring you."

"Not that I don't think they deserve it, Ron," said Lexie, "but nothing screams crazy like sending a Howler..."

"We believe you, in any case," said Hermione. "Both of you."

Harry was an even bigger target than I was, not to speak of Dumbledore.

"How is Harry, anyway?" Janice asked, turning her eyes to Lexie.

"What are you looking at me for?" she asked curiously.

"I just figured, since you send out a letter every day-"

Lexie's expression remained neutral, before saying, "Oh, you know, the usual. Dursleys are doing his head in, he wants to get back to Hogwarts... and he misses us."

There was something off about the way she said it, but I decided not to get into it right now.

Sirius came into the living room, with a letter in his hand. He looked distressed.

"You won't believe this! They tried to expel Harry!"

"What?" Bella said. "Why? What happened?"

"He used a Patronus Charm, according to Dumbledore there were Dementors involved," said Sirius. "Anyway, they've made an appeal, Dumbledore won't let the Ministry expel him."

"Did you say Dementors?" said Lexie. "In Little Whinging?"

"Last time, You-Know-Who had Dementors, too," I said, having done my research.

It was unnerving to know what we were up against, but I would rather be prepared. Everything had changed. All the innocence I had left was gone, in the split second of losing Cedric, I had grown up.

* * *

POV JANICE DIGGORY:

 _Monster_.

It was all I saw in the mirror. I finally looked the part.

I realized far too late, I've always been too gullible. I was always so convinced of my own innocence.

Any smarter person would have known. All the blackouts, switches in my personality, when I was so aggressive to Professor Snape... Any other person would have put two and two together.

Obvious side-effects of repeatedly being Obliviated. I had seen Crouch Jr., I had caught him, multiple times. When Snape accused me of stealing the Polyjuice ingredients, the memories came back to me.

When I was in the hospital wing, he came to take some lotion because his prosthetic hurt. It hurt because it didn't fit properly when the potion started to wear off. All these little things triggered the memories to come back.

I was the only one that knew the Triwizard Tournament had been tampered with, that it was a trap. I'd let my cousin walk into that trap and I will never be able to forgive myself.

Cedric, one of the best people I knew was dead. Uncle Amos was left with an agoraphobic sister-in-law and a werewolf niece after losing his brother, wife and son to Voldemort.

Claire had lost two of the most important men in her life in a short amount of time. If that wasn't bad enough, the papers were ridiculing her and Harry. The Ministry was completely opposing Dumbledore who was made out for a 'dangerous' individual.

Claire was coping better than I was, she seemed to brush off our concern as if it was unnecessary. I'd let Lexie and Bella hold me, and try to talk me out of my guilt.

People at school shunned me like the plague with my scars. Most people, anyway. Not my friends. Not Neville. He'd been exceptionally good to me. He didn't care that I was a werewolf. He hadn't cared about Lupin either.

The seed he'd given me had grown into a flower with Hufflepuff colours. It smelled like peaches, and I recalled mentioning to him that peaches were my favourite fruit.

He had written me every week, keeping me up to date about his summer, his grandmother and his parents. It helped to think that maybe I hadn't made things worse for Neville at least. He could trust me, and talk to me and had even asked me to go with him to visit his parents.

Maybe it was a small consolation, when I told Claire this, she said Cedric would've been proud of me. Like I said, he was a better person than I am.

* * *

POV LEXIE JONES:

 _Dear Draco,_

 _Claire seems to be doing better than I expected given the circumstances. Still, I keep wondering whether this tough act is going to last. I'm pleased, but wary. Thanks for understanding my need to stay close to her, and for asking how she's been.  
Have you heard from Blaise lately? Something happened in those moments before the Third Task, when I left him with Bella. Both of them were acting... odd. We'll have to corner and question as soon as we see him on the train. Getting a story out of him is tough enough face-to-face, but impossible doing it through letters. What's a schoolyear without a little Gryffindor-Slytherin drama, right?  
How are your parents? Have you found the book yet?  
I know I've written you every day but it's not the same as seeing you. Why did you have to wait until the end of the year to make it up to me, you idiot? We wasted so much time being angry. _

_I miss you._

 _Love,_

 _Lexie._

I'd just finished the letter when I heard noises from the hallway. I could easily distinguish Bella's loud, excited cry.

"Harry!"

Janice and Bella were already choking him in a tight hug, and Ron and Hermione seemed relieved to see him too. When they finally released him, he entered the room.

Harry seemed genuinely pleased to see me. He was the one to initiate the hug for once, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me close.

"Are you okay?" I asked. "I heard about what happened-"

"They didn't expel me," he reassured me.

"I'm sorry our letters were so useless, Harry," said Hermione. "We wanted to tell you everything, I swear- but Dumbledore wouldn't let us."

"We really wanted to tell you, mate," said Ron. "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us —"

"— swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said."

"I guess the old man wanted to give you some peace," I said. "Give you a summer away from all this. Not that I agree with him, mind you. You should've been with us. I tried to tell him, but-"

"He seemed to think it was best," said Hermione rather breathlessly.

I touched Harry's shoulder lightly. He seemed a lot less glad to see us, suddenly, he looked like he'd rather be left alone for a while.

"I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles —" Ron began.

"Yeah?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "Have either of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

"That's not his fault," said Janice. "He couldn't have known. He's moved you here now, hasn't he?"

"He's had people of the Order watching you, too," said Bella. "He was furious when he found out When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended."

"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

I'd never been able to agree with Dumbledore on why he kept Harry at the Dursley's house. From what I'd gathered, his treatment at their hands at bordered on abuse. It probably was outright abuse, considering Harry played down the whole situation.

"Where's Claire?" asked Harry.

"Probably downstairs with George," I said. "They've been spending more time together. He makes her laugh, which is good, I guess."

Then Harry's eyes fell on the letter on my bed. I instinctively reached to take it, but the damn Seeker beat me to it. He read the letter, then he froze.

"Why are you writing to Malfoy?"

"You've been writing to _Malfoy_ every day?" Ron gasped. "You said you'd been writing to Harry!"

"I said no such thing," I defended myself. "It's none of your business-"

"Don't tell me you and him are back together?" said Harry.

"Good Godric, Lexie!" said Bella. "You said you wouldn't!"

"He apologized, okay?" I said, trying to remain calm. "He really, really apologized."

"So that makes it all okay?" Harry spat.

He was furious.

"I don't need your blessing, Harry," I replied. "This has nothing to do with any of you."

In a flash, he drew his wand, and I mirrored his movements.

"Harry!" Janice said, exasperated. "You _just_ got into trouble for performing magic! You won't have a valid excuse this time!"

"The Ministry can impossibly track this place with an Fidelius Charm on the property," I said. "If he wants to hurt me, I'd like to see him try. You're such a smug bastard, Potter. You think you know Draco-"

"I thought I knew you!" said Harry, sparks flying from his wand.

He was positively livid by the looks of it. I knew I'd Disarm him before he even had a chance to utter a spell.

"I used to think he had this hold on you, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe you're able to condone all his actions because you're just as bad as him!" yelled Harry.

I gritted my teeth. I wouldn't show it but the comment _hurt_.

"I spent the entirety of last year holding your hand with the Triwizard Tournament and _this_ is what I get, you ungrateful little-"

We both had our wands at the ready. Bella was frantic.

"If you off each other, I'll bloody kill you!"

There was a flash of light, and in a split second Bella had thrown herself in between, unclear who she was trying to protect.

 _What had we done?_

* * *

POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:

"Tell me I'm not seeing this," said Ron.

My head hurt. I could hardly open my eyes.

"Hermione, please tell me I'm hallucinating," Ron continued.

The door opened.

"What the-"

That was Sirius' voice.

"I don't know what happened," said Lexie. "This shouldn't be magically possible. She must have gotten hit by both spells at once."

"How did that happen?" Sirius asked. "You two aren't supposed to use magic."

"Bella will be okay, right?" said Janice.

I finally managed to open my eyes.

"What's going on?" I asked.

My eyes widened and I grasped at my throat. Something was all wrong here. My voice sounded so heavy.

"What's happened?" I asked.

Same weird voice.

"Don't panic," said Sirius, "but you might want a mirror."

Something was very, very wrong here. As expected, I did start to panic but I couldn't bring myself to talk anymore. When Janice handed me a mirror, I dropped it almost instantly.

"You don't even look _that_ bad," Hermione said.

My hands, bigger than usual, I noticed, grabbed the mirror again. What I saw were my features, mostly. Red hair. Green eyes. The familiar freckles. But they were plastered on a completely different face. Angular jawline, short hair, _boyish_ features. All the cursewords I knew left my mouth.

" _Bella_!" Janice and Hermione gasped in unison.

"Am I even allowed to be called that anymore?" I snapped. "It's not just my face either, is it? What would your reaction be if you got turned into a _dude_!"

"It's been known that being hit by two curses at once can have strange effects, but this-" Sirius began, but he didn't know what to say.

"So you can't fix it?" I asked. "Brilliant! I can't go to school like this!"

"You could pass for a Weasley," Ron offered immediately. "There's a whole bunch of cousins up in Scotland-"

" _Do I sound like I can I pull off a Scottish accent for an entire year?!_ "

"Just for the time being, it'll have to make do," said Lexie. "We'll find a way to reverse it, I swear."

"I guess that depends on what curse you were going to use," Sirius noted.

"Something dark, I'd wager," Harry spat.

"Salazar, not this again," she uttered.

Harry seemed ready to make a retort, but Sirius touched his arm lightly, shaking his head.

"Not _you_ , too," said Harry.

He looked angrier than I'd ever seen him.

"So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?" Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. "Did any of you — er — bother to ask him at all? Does he think I can't be trusted?"

"Don't be thick," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.

"Or that I can't take care of myself —"

"Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously.

"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you two get to join in everything that's going on here?" said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. "How come you two are allowed to know everything that's going on — ?"

"We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young —"

But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS? WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"

All of us were a little shaky from that entire speech except for Lexie, who wouldn't have any of it anymore.

"Take this up with Dumbledore and not us, why don't you?" said Lexie coolly. "C'mon, Bells, we'll get you some other clothes, you've torn out of your tank top and those boyfriend jeans are skinny on you now."

"There's some in my old room," Sirius offered, and I beamed gratefully.

Lexie's hand felt small around mine, as she led me to Sirius room.

"Harry actually scared me a little back there," I said. "Although I understand he's angry."

"I'd be angry too," she replied softly. " _He's_ being irrational. He only took it out on me because he found out about Draco..."

"I believe he apologized, you know," I said. "I don't see it but there must be _something_ about him you like."

"I've been able to talk to him about Claire, too, you know," she told me. "He _does_ care. I know he can be a bigot, but it's how he's raised. He's just trapped in this toxic culture of pureblood supremacy. Sometimes, so am I. Not everyone's as brave as you, Bells."

I nodded.

"I wasn't going to give you trouble, but that doesn't mean I have to like him, does it?"

"I wasn't expecting a miracle, trust me," she said, smiling a little.

She was going through Sirius' old clothes.

"What size do you think you are, anyway?"

"My brother's a medium, is all I know," I sighed. "I should be roughly his size now, right?"

She handed me a pile of clothes and smiled sadly. "I'm really, really sorry."

"Not even you could have predicted this," I said, making her laugh.

I removed what was left of my favourite black tank top and I saw Lexie blink.

"I should turn around, shouldn't I? I'll leave the room."

I heard her giggle.

"It's so weird to see you in a bra like this."

I felt myself flushing, feeling embarrassed.

"Don't worry," she said, cupping my face, "you're quite handsome."

I laughed sheepishly. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"I told you, those Gryffindor instincts will land you in weird places, Bells."

* * *

 **1\. I'm sorry about Cedric guys, but I was always planning for him to die. Some of my major plot points are connected with him dying, so, it had to happen. Are you surprised about Claire's behaviour? Do you think it will last?**

 **2\. I hope Janice's story made sense. I foreshadowed as much as I could in Lost Minds, but now you know the whole thing. What do you think will happen with her in the next year?**

 **3\. Lexie and Draco are officially back together. How do you feel about that? And about Harry's and Bella's reactions?**

 **4\. Bella's storyline might seem a little crazy right now, but things will get more and more interesting later. How do you think this will affect her thing with Blaise, for example?**

 **Please leave a review, see you next chapter :)**


	2. Noble and Most Ancient House of Black

**Okay guys so I kind have been gone forever but I randomly got inspired and decided to continue writing and tbh I dont blame you if you've given up on me, but I might keep writing and posting for myself anyway. If you are for some reason still reading don't hesitate to leave a review ;)**

* * *

 **Ch. 2 The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black**

POV JANICE DIGGORY:

"What was that I heard about Bella?" said Claire.

"We should be calling her Billy, at least for a while, so we don't slip up in public," said Hermione. "She's supposed to be Ron's Scottish cousin, isn't she?"

"Saying _she_ might be a bit of a giveaway, too, Hermione," Harry added.

"Do you really think no one will notice?"

"Well, I'd hope not, or they'll find out you've been using magic outside of school again," I said.

"About that," Claire said decidedly, "you and Lexie should find a way to make it up to each other. We're going to need each other, more than ever."

A tense silence hung in the air.

"Have you heard anything at all about Voldemort?" asked Harry. "What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?"

"We've told you, the Order don't let us in on their meetings," said Hermione nervously. "So we don't know the details — but we've got a general idea —" she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.

"Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see," said Ron. "They're really useful."

"Extendable — ?"

"Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know —"

"— some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order," Claire added.

It didn't seem to be incredibly successful, but she decided to leave that information out. Harry was prickly enough without all the bad news.

"So what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings?" he demanded. "You said you'd been busy."

"We have," I said quickly. "We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff 's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo — AARGH!"

With two loud cracks, Fred and George had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room.

"Hello, Harry," said George, beaming at him. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" asked Harry grumpily.

"With distinction," said Fred, who was holding what looked like a piece of very long, flesh-coloured string.

"Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears," he added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, holding up the string, which he now saw was trailing out onto the landing. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You want to be careful," said Ron, staring at the ear. "If Mum sees one of them again . . ."

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred.

"I'm sorry to say, but it won't work this time," said Claire. "I checked the door, they've put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door. I've read about them."

"Of course," George sighed. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Regular Order business, I suppose," Claire said sternly. "He's on our side now."

Ron snorted.

"Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us when he sees us. . . ."

Snape had been avoiding me like the plague. I don't blame him. Not after what I'd accused him of, however true it might have been.

"Dumbledore trusts him," I said, as though that settled the matter.

I had not found a good moment to tell them about what I had discovered recently about Snape's possible involvement in my parents' death. About how he had stood there and done nothing, at the very least. I also figured it might not be the smarter idea to tell my friends, especially Harry, Ron, or Bella, who were already easily fired up and not the biggest fans of Snape. They might get themselves into trouble.

Before anyone could reply, Bella came in, Lexie's arms around her new, large form. Her big hands were holding a crumpled letter, and they were shaky.

Most of us saw this coming, when Bella showed up on my doorstep with a crappy excuse about a surprise visit, with a fully packed trunk to last her the next semester. She'd left the house after a row, we knew that much. She might have left for good.

"Dad got promoted at the Ministry," said Bella suddenly. "Despite what I tried to do, he said. But what can you expect, he's in Fudge's pocket. He tried suggesting I steer clear from Harry from now on."

"The big row was about me?" said Harry, looking guilty. "Bella-"

"Things weren't exactly fine and dandy before this," said Lexie. "She already spent most of her time away from Hogwarts at mine, or Claire's or Janice's. Not everything is about you."

"She's right," said Bella. "It's been this way since before I met you. Janice hasn't been allowed in my house since the accident. Everything to look good in front of the Ministry and especially Fudge. Cormac tried to stop him, but he was adamant and so was I. So I told him even Dumbledore was a better father figure. Well, that was the final straw."

Harry looked confused.

"Dumbledore's name's mud with the Ministry these days, see," said Fred. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."

"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," said George. "That's not the worst of it, you know, Percy got promoted too, to junior assistant of the Minister of Magic. Quite the accomplishment, considering all the trouble and investigations he went through after they found Barty Crouch's body."

"Percy had a huge row with Mum and Dad," Ron said.

"Because he got promoted?" asked Harry, still confused.

Ron sighed.

"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession —Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family — and Dumbledore."

Harry let out a low whistle.

"Bet Percy loved that."

Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way.

"He went completely berserk. He said — well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been — you know — not had a lot of money, I mean —"

" _What_?" said Harry in disbelief.

"It was horrible," I said, "For someone to say that to their own parents."

"I know," said Ron in a low voice. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he — Percy — knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."

"But Percy must know Voldemort's back," said Harry slowly. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof —"

"Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row," said Ron, shooting Harry a furtive look. "Percy said the only evidence was your word and . . . I dunno . . . he didn't think it was good enough."

"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously," said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Haven't you been reading the Prophet?" I asked carefully.

Oh boy, was he in for a nasty shock.

"Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something," said Hermione, very fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry to hear these facts quickly. "They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next —' "

"I don't want anyone to worship —" Harry began hotly.

"I've been writing them," said Claire. "I've been telling them this is not acceptable and they need to rectify it."

"Don't you see what they're trying to do?" said Lexie. "They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."

"I didn't ask — I didn't want- _Voldemort killed my parents_!" Harry spluttered.

"We know that, Harry," I said, taking hold of his hand. "You don't need to defend yourself to us. We believe you."

"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you," said Hermione. "Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors."

"It would tip people off that there are Dark forces about," said Lexie. "Lots of magical creatures went for the Dark side, you know- because the Ministry often still discriminates against them. It's a huge problem, but at least the Order is separate from the Ministry. I guess that's Dumbledore's card now."

"She's read _Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts in the 20th century_ from cover to cover," Bella said, sighing.

"So should all of us," said Claire sternly.

Someone knocked. Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway.

"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now, everyone's dying to see you, Harry."

* * *

POV LEXIE JONES:

Someone had clearly forgotten to warn Harry about Mrs. Black's painting, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when she started her rant.

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers —"

" _Shut up_ , you horrible old hag, shut UP!" roared Sirius.

The old woman's face blanched.

" _You_!" she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"

Sirius had to keep yelling at it to shut up until he and Lupin managed to close the curtain.

"Harry," he said grimly, "I see you've met my mother."

"I suppose you didn't inherit your charm from her," I said, trying to make him smile.

I sort of succeeded, the tips of his mouth curled upwards. I saw Snape making his way to the door, giving me and Harry a suspicious look.

"He never eats here," I informed him.

"Thank God," Ron muttered.

"Are we speaking again?" asked Harry.

"I'll do my best to forgive the outburst if you don't start throwing unfounded accusations at me," I replied.

It hurt what he'd said, that he could still see me as the stereotypical evil Slytherin after all those years. I had helped him with the tasks, I'd travelled back in time with him, I was prepared to give my own life for Bella's and I'd proved it. If that's not enough it just proves I can't do anything right with him.

" _Unfounded_?" he spat, ready to burst out of his skin again.

"I guess not," I said. "Suit yourself, Potter, but don't come running to me next you've got a problem."

Harry turned pale and stormed into the dining room.

Sirius put his hand on my shoulder and whispered, "He'll come around. He's had a rough year, that's all."

"I get that," I replied, "but so have Claire and Janice. Neither of them are going for me like that."

"He doesn't like the Malfoy kid, that's all," said Sirius, slightly amused.

He smiled knowingly, like he knew something I didn't.

"I'll say that before you I have only known one Slytherin I have liked, but I don't question your loyalty, neither do the others," he told me. "Deep down, neither does Harry."

It's like he knew I needed to hear it. He winked at me and sat down next to his godson.

"Had a good summer so far?"

"No, it's been lousy," said Harry.

Something like a grin flitted across Sirius's face.

"Don't know what you're complaining about, myself."

"What?" said Harry incredulously.

"Personally, I'd have welcomed a dementor attack. A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights. . . . I've been stuck inside for a month."

"You shouldn't joke about things like that," said Claire stubbornly. "You're finally rid of the Dementors-"

"How come?" asked Harry, frowning. Sirius sighed. "Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix . . . or so Dumbledore feels."

"Dumbledore's looking out for you, you know," Claire reminded him. "I know it's nothing like the life you'd imagined you'd be having when you got out, but you need to be patient."

"Not everyone's as patient as you, Claire," he said softly, "certainly not me, while I have to listen to Snape's snide remarks about how he's risking his life everyday and I'm stuck here doing the cleaning..."

There was a loud screech from the kitchen.

"Fred — George — NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

The twins had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with knife, to hurtle through the air toward them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off the board and landed, point down and quivering ominously, exactly where Sirius's right hand had been seconds before.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" screamed Mrs. Weasley. "THERE WAS NO NEED — I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS — JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"

"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" said Fred, hurrying forward and wrenching the bread knife out of the table. "Sorry Sirius, mate — didn't mean to —"

Everyone was laughing, and to my relief, so was Claire, trying to stifle the giggles with her hand, before saying, "You should really be more careful!"

"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, slamming a fresh flagon of butterbeer onto the table and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy —"

She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened look at her husband, whose expression was suddenly wooden.

I felt incredible sympathy for her at that moment, she was one of the most loving parents I had ever met. I had missed my own mother halfway through the summer holidays, who was in France now with my father and sister. However, I never felt I had wanted for anything, especially not motherly love. Mrs. Weasley was so used to having a big family, she had no qualms about adding her son's friends to it as well.

"Let's eat," said Bill quickly.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Bella said quickly, and Janice jumped at the sound of her heavy voice, causing Bella to grin sheepishly.

"It looks wonderful, Molly," said Lupin, ladling stew onto a plate for her and handing it across the table.

He was seated as far away from Janice as possible. I suppose I could not hate him for what he did to her in his wolf form, but he could have guided her, teach her to deal with the situation with anything other than shame or guilt.

Then Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius and said, "I've been meaning to tell you, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking."

I instantly shivered, remembering my last experience with a boggart. Harry had thought I'd been afraid of my death instead of my sister's. The assumption I only cared about myself was ever present.

"We'll take care of it," said Lupin, sneaking a glance at Sirius.

"I could make you a new sweater, you know," said Mrs. Weasley said to Bella. "One that'll fit you."

"I hope I won't have to stay like this until Christmas," Bella said grumpily, "but thanks for offering."

"You'll certainly get less funny looks at the dinner table when you're stuffing your face," I offered sweetly.

"You might get funny looks from your boyfriend if you're spending a lot of time with me," Bella replied. "He might think you're cheating."

She said boyfriend teasingly, but also more easily than I expected, which was quite a relief.

"That just means he'll work extra hard to get my attention, so we're in for a win-win there," I smirked.

"What's my win exactly?" she asked.

"You get to avoid Blaise for a while," I said.

"Unless he decides he wants to torture the new kid in the mean time," Ron added, earning him a glare from Hermione.

"I was hoping you two would get along eventually, you know," Janice said. "He seemed quite nice."

"That's what he wants all of you to think," Bella said firmly. "It's all a trap."

"He happens to be quite popular," said Claire matter-of-factly. "A lot of people like him."

"A lot of girls like him, there's a difference," I chuckled. "Except for our Bella, so it seems."

I looked at her intently. Something between them had shifted in those moments alone before the Third Task. It was not just the end of the bet, it seemed as if Blaise had lost interest in her but I knew better than that.

He was avoiding her actively, not ignoring her because he'd gotten bored. I was determined to find out what is what that made them stop talking or even looking at one another.

"Maybe that's because he's a pretentious git," said Harry harshly, looking at me. "It's pretty common among Slytherins."

"If that comment was meant to be hurtful, darling, you're going to have to try harder," I retorted.

It was easier to pretend I didn't care about him hating me.

"I'd rather neither of you tried at all!" squealed Janice. "I know the two of you were never particularly close-"

Harry avoided my gaze when she said that because she knew it was wrong. We'd teased, joked around, but he had come to me for advice constantly. He'd confided in me about his fears, about Voldemort, the tournament, his nightmares... We'd actually gotten quite close, as crazy as it might be.

Not that either of us would even admit it, not to each other and not to anyone else.

"-but you've known each other for four years and we've been through so much together!" Janice ranted on. "We need to stick close together with what's ahead of us, not fall apart."

 _I hate it when you're right, Janice_.

I wouldn't give her that satisfaction, though, so I cleared my plate and went up to my room.

Kreacher the house-elf was dusting one of the bookshelves. He thought I was pureblood, so he never gave me much trouble. He didn't yell at me, like he did with Hermione or Claire, he didn't call me names like he did with Janice.

Sirius had been livid when Kreacher had said nasty things about her lycanthropy. He even bowed when I entered the room this time.

"There's no need to bow, Kreacher, please," I said, feeling a bit uneasy.

The older I become, the more conscious I became of the consequences of keeping my blood status secret. And if it came out. It had been a decision made in the split second, a gut feeling, something about not appreciating the way Draco had said the word Muggles.

It wasn't a real lie anyway, not at first. I was a part of a noble ancient wizarding family, much like the Black family. When I discovered what a Mudblood was in my second year, and that I was definitely one of them, is when the lie got more and more intricate. My friends knew, but I had been able to rely on them up until now.

My recent argument with Harry made me nervous. He wouldn't, would he?

* * *

POV CLAIRE GIBBS

It was late. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sleep.

I knew Sirius would be awake too, he was always awake.

He was sitting in one of the grand chairs in front of the fire, with a glass of Firewhiskey in his hand.

"At least you won't have to be bored anymore," I said, "a lot has happened since Harry's arrived. You can help find a way to fix Bella's situation."

"If I were Bella, I'd enjoy it as long as it lasts." Sirius was cheeky as ever.

I tried not to laugh.

"It must be terribly confusing for her," I reminded him. "I hope we'll be able to fix it."

"We will," he said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

He chuckled suddenly.

"If we'd known how to do that spell in my day..."

"It's not a spell, technically, it's a mongrel of two curses," I corrected him instinctively.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I'm just saying, if we could've used that on ol' Snivellus, now that would have been hilarious."

"It's been _twenty_ years since you were young and went to school with him," I noted. "How can you still resent him this much?"

"Give me a break, Claire, I'm stuck in my childhood home again. I don't feel as if twenty years have passed. I'm beginning to feel like time doesn't pass at all in here," he said. "I have to distract myself with something before I go mad."

I looked down for a second. I thought about how miserable, and tired and empty I felt over the loss of Cedric.

My first love.

I thought about how guilty I felt over the loss of my father.

Sirius had lost two of his best friends and his family to Voldemort, and he had lost his freedom too. He knows, he might have lost a love of his own during the war.

I couldn't imagine how he was still alive with all that grief and despair weighing down on him. He had to feel all that so intensely, constantly, due to the presence of the Dementors. I had to do something, say something.

"Harry's here now," I said. "You're not alone in here."

Sirius grimaced.

"I'm glad he is, I'm glad for all of you. But you are going off to Hogwarts soon."

"Mr. Lupin said he would stay," I said.

That mention of his name made Sirius smile.

"I know, but I'm worried about what will happen to Harry."

"He's not going to be alone either," I said. "We all have of own ways of supporting him. I also think it goes without saying we're all very protective of him. Besides, he has stood his own many, many times."

"I just hope you kids won't have to go through what we did," he told me. "You're too young to have to deal with all this, you grow up too soon. When I met you, at the end of third year, you came across like an adult. A thirteen year old adult."

I grimaced.

"I've always been… down to earth, I guess."

"Bella told me about your father, she was asking me for advice," he said, a smile forming on his face. "Like Harry, she clung to me like I was a father figure. I've gotten to know you very well over the summer, but you've never done that. You're not looking for someone like that anymore, you don't need a parental figure to give you advice. You end up giving me advice, instead."

I smiled and looked at the ground, and muttered "Just trying to help, you've had a hard life."

"So have you, but the point is, it shouldn't be like that," he reminded me sternly. "You're fifteen, you're allowed to act like it. You're allowed to be a stupid teenager. You're allowed to seek guidance from the adults around you, you don't need to have everything figured out yourself."

 _Yes_ , I thought to myself, _Cedric would want me to_.

I just nodded.

"You should try and get some sleep," he said, "you need to rest for all the work we're going to do tomorrow."

The next morning there was a tense discussion going on at the dining table.

I saw we were joined by some very unpleasant company in the form of Mundungus Fletcher, who was smoking in the living room. He was a crook, but Sirius argued it paid to have him around because he had access to a world of information the rest of us did not.

Mrs. Weasley did have to say about that it didn't mean he had to be invited to eat with us.

I had a feeling she still blamed him from shirking on his duty of tailing Harry, which was the reason the whole Dementor debacle had occurred in the first place. Mundungus had been telling us about his business dealings, prompting some very disapproving comments from Mrs. Weasley.

But the tense discussion had begun when Sirius said, "You know, Harry, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."

Janice shuddered involuntarily at the mention of his name, but the entire table fell quiet. Even Ginny, who had previously been giggling at Tonks' demonstration of her abilities.

"I did!" said Harry indignantly. "I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so —"

"And they're quite right," said Mrs. Weasley. "You're too young."

"That's not fair!" Bella protested.

The other adults were about to argue that when I reminded them, "Keeping us out of the loop and sending us to Hogwarts is not going to keep us safe. Cedric was not safe."

The table fell quiet again. No one really knew what to reply to that. I felt Sirius' hand on my arm, trying to comfort me.

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "Claire and Janice have lost Cedric. All of the kids have been here working hard to get the Headquarters ready all summer. Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. They've got the right to know what's been happen —"

"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly.

"How come now Harry's here he gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily.

"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.

"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly. "That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand —"

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply.

Her normally kindly face looked dangerous.

"You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with an air as though readying himself for a fight.

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know_ ," said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.

"He has more of a right to know than most at this table," said Sirius coolly.

I used to want to protect Harry from the truth too, and even got mad at Lexie for telling him our suspicions prematurely. So much had changed since then, it was no longer a question of 'what if' but rather 'when'.

"I agree," I said. "He's been targeted by Voldemort before. He has a right to know what he's up against."

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Mrs. Weasley. "He's only fifteen and —"

"— and he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some —"

"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, her fists trembling on the arms of her chair. "But he's still —"

"He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently.

"He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks.

"He's not _James_ , Sirius!"

Janice whimpered, as if she could feel Sirius' sting of pain.

"Mrs. Weasley!" Bella said, aghast.

"Personally," said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last, as Mrs. Weasley turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts — not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture — from us, rather than a garbled version from … others."

"Yes, rather than the lies the Prophet is writing!" argued Bella.

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well … I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart —"

"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly.

"He's as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!" "Yes," said Mrs. Weasley, her lip curling. "The thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"

Sirius started to rise from his chair.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Lupin sharply. "Sirius, sit down."

"I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this," Lupin continued. "He's old enough to decide for himself."

"I want to know what's been going on," Harry said at once.

"Actually," he said, "I think all of us do. My friends have been with me through everything, they're in as much danger as I am, they have just as much to lose, and have the same right to know."

He shared a knowing look with me, as I silently mouthed 'thank you'.

* * *

POV BELLA MCLAGGEN: 

"What d'you reckon?" asked Ron.

"Well, they didn't tell us much we couldn't have guessed, did they?" he said, thinking of all that had been said downstairs.

"I mean, all they've really said is that the Order's trying to stop people joining Vol —"

There was a sharp intake of breath from Ron and Janice.

"— demort," said Harry firmly. "When are you going to start using his name? Sirius and Lupin do."

"That's _their_ choice, Potter," Lexie bit back.

"He's right," said Janice softly. "We should be using it."

She seemed weaker, more introverted than usual. Something had happened to her last year, and it had first affected her in wolf-mode when she got the scar, and it was starting to affect her in daily life as well.

I had asked her, so had the others but she hadn't said much. I wondered if Lexie had any inklings, as she usually did.

I could tell she and Harry felt guilty about what they did to me, and Lexie was not one to feel guilt easily. Things were still very tense between them, and part of me couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts, hoping it would dissolve a bit when we weren't all stuck in this house anymore.

Then I remembered how I had left things with Blaise last year, and I was quickly less excited. If he found out about what had happened to me he wouldn't ever let me forget it.

On the other hand, he won't ask me to kiss him again which is for the best. I still don't know what had gotten into me when I did it, and why I didn't hate it. Why it didn't feel disgusting.

I had needed space to think, and for some reason he had given me that. I should be glad that there was a small chance I had scared him off for good, but I did not feel glad. Part of me was suspicious he was planning something else, part of me felt bad. Am I really that horrible to kiss?

"I'm more curious about this weapon Sirius mentioned," Lexie continued, breaking my train of thought.

"It might be Dark magic, that's you area of expertise, isn't it?" Harry said bitingly.

Lexie's mouth twitched, before turning into a terrifying grin and saying, "I love that you recognize how powerful I am, Potter."

I hadn't missed her continuing use of his last name since their fight. Blaise had mentioned they were getting closer last year, but it felt like they were right back to first year again, if not worse.

I also couldn't help but notice how I thought of Blaise by his first name now, no longer 'Zabini'.

Harry gritted his teeth and before he could reply, Claire interjected, "I should hope our side is still in control of it, then."

The next morning Fred, George, Harry and I were in charge of clearing out the doxy pest on the second floor.

"We want to experiment with doxy venom for our Skiving Snack-boxes," George told us.

Deftly spraying two doxies at once as they soared straight for his nose, Harry moved closer to George and muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "What are Skiving Snackboxes?"

"Range of sweets to make you ill," George whispered, keeping a wary eye on Mrs. Weasley's back. "Not seriously ill, mind, just ill enough to get you out of a class when you feel like it. Fred and I have been developing them this summer. They're double-ended, color-coded chews. If you eat the orange half of the Puking Pastilles, you throw up. Moment you've been rushed out of the lesson for the hospital wing, you swallow the purple half —"

" '— which restores you to full fitness, enabling you to pursue the leisure activity of your own choice during an hour that would otherwise have been devoted to unprofitable boredom.' That's what we're putting in the adverts, anyway," whispered Fred, who had edged over out of Mrs. Weasley's line of vision and was now sweeping a few stray doxies from the floor and adding them to his pocket. "But they still need a bit of work. But then George came up with the doxy idea, and that should make it work."

"That sounds amazing," I said, grinning, "I am _so_ using that if we get double Potions again like last year."

"The doxy's were Claire's idea actually," George said, grinning sheepishly and scratching his head. "She's read about doxy venom, and said it would be perfect."

" _Claire's_?" I said, aghast. "I can't imagine her approving of an idea to get out of class."

"She said something about it being our own responsibility or something," George shrugged. "She really just wanted to help."

"Joke shop still on, then?" Harry muttered, pretending to be adjusting the nozzle on his spray.

"Well, we haven't had a chance to get premises yet," said Fred, dropping his voice even lower as Mrs. Weasley mopped her brow with her scarf before returning to the attack, "so we're running it as a mailorder service at the moment. We put advertisements in the Daily Prophet last week."

"All thanks to you, mate," said George. "But don't worry … Mum hasn't got a clue. She won't read the Daily Prophet anymore, 'cause of it telling lies about you and Dumbledore."

"Giving them your prize money from the Tournament was your best idea ever, Harry," I said, earning a smile for him.

"We can count on you for promotion right, little prodigy?" said Fred.

"Of course!" I smiled. "Although I will probably still be your best customer."

"We're also developing these chocolate boxes that give you pimples," Fred continued, his eyes sparkling mischievously, "if you want to, you know, send Zabini a Valentine's Day gift."

My eyes grew wide.

"Why would I want to do that for?"

"He's not bothering you anymore then, is he?" asked George tentatively.

"No, no he hasn't since the Tournament ended," I replied, somewhat relieved.

I did not want to betray I had panicked for another reason. No one could know what had happened with Blaise. I did not want to lose Harry like Lexie did.

"Even so," Fred said, "I would love to see his smug face full of pimples for once."

When we finished with the morning portion of the cleaning at noon, we went downstairs for lunch. Harry and I came across Sirius, standing in a room we had never been here before.

There was a tapestry on the wall, it looked immensely old; it was faded and looked as though doxies had gnawed it in places; nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:

THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK

TOUJOURS PUR

From Lexie, I knew enough French to know it meant 'always pure'.

"Hi Sirius," I said, going in with Harry, "do you want to join us for lunch?"

Harry was looking at the tapestry intently.

"You're not on here!" he said, after scanning the bottom of the tree.

"I used to be there," said Sirius, pointing at a small, round, charred hole in the tapestry, rather like a cigarette burn. "My sweet old mother blasted me off after I ran away from home — Kreacher's quite fond of muttering the story under his breath."

I was quite sure if we had a tree like that at home, the same might have happened to my face.

"You ran away from home?" asked Harry.

"When I was about sixteen," said Sirius. "I'd had enough."

"Where did you go?" asked Harry, staring at him.

"Your dad's place," said Sirius. "Your grandparents were really good about it; they sort of adopted me as a second son. Yeah, I camped out at your dad's during the school holidays, and then when I was seventeen I got a place of my own, my Uncle Alphard had left me a decent bit of gold — he's been wiped off here too, that's probably why — anyway, after that I looked after myself. I was always welcome at Mr. and Mrs. Potter's for Sunday lunch, though."

"But … why did you … ?"

"Leave?" Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. "Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that's him."

I suddenly wondered if more Slytherins were in the same position, having to either stay quiet if they disagreed with their parents, or leave. According to Lexie most of them did not care much about blood status, but were still not tempted to upset the status quo. Funnily, I had never looked at it like that, but then I remembered there was also people, like Malfoy, that she liked to make excuses for.

Sirius jabbed a finger at the very bottom of the tree, at the name REGULUS BLACK. A date of death (some fifteen years previously) followed the date of birth.

"He was younger than me," said Sirius, "and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded."

"But he died," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Stupid idiot … he joined the Death Eaters."

"You're kidding!" exclaimed Harry and I simultaneously.

I still had to get used to my lowered pitch of voice, less shrilly and more powerful.

"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked tentatively.

"Oh no," said Sirius. "No, he was murdered by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders, more likely, I doubt Regulus was ever important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after he died, he got in so far, then panicked about what he was being asked to do and tried to back out."

"He resisted then," I said. "That's good."

We heard Mrs. Weasley call from downstairs, "Lunch!"

Harry went downstairs first, and then turned to me and said, "I'm very sorry about how you ended up, you know, and I will try to find a solution. Although it might help if Harry told me what curse he was going to use on Lexie. He is a bit standoffish about it any time I try to ask."

"What was Lexie going to use then?"

Sirius chuckled to himself a bit.

"You're not going to believe it, but a simple voice altering hex, to make it high-pitched," he said, "I thought it might have been dark but she actually made an effort to pick one of the most pathetic ones out there. It's only slightly above a tickling charm."

"Maybe that was the point," I noted. "Would have been good to know they weren't going to try and kill each other, though, before I intervened."

"Keep looking out for them for me," Sirius said. "Not just those two, all of them. Claire is going to need you more than ever now, and Janice is not going to have it easy when it gets out that she is a werewolf. I remember the state Remus was in when he forcefully resigned…"

"I promise, I will," I said. "I know you do," Sirius said, "I'll be sad to see you leave for Hogwarts, though, the house will be so quiet…"

* * *

 **:) more chapters should be up soon I am starting on chapter 3 now**


	3. Recipe for Chaos

**See Claire's and Lexie's POV NEXT CHAPTER!**

* * *

 **Ch. 3 Recipe for Chaos**

 **POV JANICE DIGGORY**

I remember having a bad dream before we woke up. I was back at Cedric's funeral. My uncle, my mum and Claire were watching the grave being lowered into the ground, holding hands. Their backs were towards me, but then their heads turned, unnaturally, to face me.

"It's your fault," they said in unison. They kept saying it, over and over.

Ron woke me, rudely, but I was thankful.

"… better hurry up, Mum's going ballistic, she says we're going to miss the train..."

I heard Bella groin next to me.

"Can you believe I'm going to have to face everyone?"

There was a lot of commotion in the house to leave as soon as possible, but as soon as we were already to go we were held up in the living room.

"Mad Eye wants us to wait," Hermione explained. "We have to wait for Tonks, or the guard will be one short."

"Guard?" said Harry. "We have to go to King's Cross with a guard?"

"You have to go to King's Cross with a guard," Hermione corrected him.

"Why?" said Harry irritably. "I thought Voldemort was supposed to be lying low, or are you telling me he's going to jump out from behind a dustbin to try and do me in?"

"It's about your safety!" I said. "They don't want to take any risks, is all! And they shouldn't!"

"If we don't leave soon we will miss the train," said Hermione irritably, looking at her watch.

"And that will mean I got up early for no reason," said Bella.

"Yes, that would be a tragedy," grinned Lexie.

Suddenly, a black dog had appeared at Harry's side. It was clear Sirius intended to see his godson off.

"Sirius, do you have any idea how dangerous this is?" Claire hissed.

"Oh honestly …" said Mrs. Weasley despairingly, "well, on your own head be it!"

It took us twenty minutes to reach King's Cross by foot and nothing more eventful happened during that time than Sirius scaring a couple of cats for our entertainment.

Once inside the station we lingered casually beside the barrier between platforms nine and ten until the coast was clear, then each of us leaned against it in turn and fell easily through onto platform nine and three quarters, where the Hogwarts Express stood belching sooty steam over a platform packed with departing students and their families.

I could tell Lexie was eager enough to go to the Slytherin compartment, as soon as she spotted Blaise on the platform, she sprinted towards him, after saying a quick "I'll catch up with you after the feast!"

Neville found me on the platform, calling out, "Nice dog, Harry!"

I was so excited to see him I gave him a hug. He would still be there for me, scars and all, even if I didn't deserve it.

Then, the parents and Sirius saw us off and we were about to board the train.

"He shouldn't have come with us," said Hermione in a worried voice.

"Oh lighten up," said Ron, "he hasn't seen daylight for months, poor bloke."

"I agree," Bella said. "I don't think I could have taken another week in that house, he's been there way longer."

"Oh," Neville said, "I don't think I've seen you before."

Bella turned red and Claire looked at her sternly.

"My cousin, Billy," Ron said. "He used to be home-schooled, but he's having a bit of trouble at home so my mum offered for him to stay with us."

Ron could lie so smoothly sometimes, of course his lie contained a bit of the truth.

Neville looked convinced at least, shaking Bella's hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Neville."

"Shall we go and find a compartment, then?" Harry asked.

Ron, Hermione and Claire exchanged looks.

"We're — well — Ron, Claire and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said awkwardly.

"Oh," said Harry, unable to hide his disappointment.

"We probably won't have to stay there the entire time," Claire informed him. "We will be receiving instructions from the Head Boys and Head Girls and then patrol the train."

"Fine," said Harry again. "Well, I-I might see you later, then."

"Yeah, definitely," said Ron, casting a shifty, anxious look at Harry. "It's a pain having to go down there, I'd rather — but we have to — I mean, I'm not enjoying it, I'm not Percy," he finished defiantly.

"I know you're not," said Harry and he grinned.

So when those three entered the train, Bella, Harry, Neville and I decided to look for a compartment.

"Ah, it seems there are no empty ones left," Neville said sadly.

"There's room over there, it's only Loony Lovegood," said Bella.

"Who?" said Harry, while I glared at her.

"How do you know Luna?" Neville asked curiously.

"Ron told me about her," Bella lied, not very smoothly.

"She's very kind actually, she's in Ginny's year in Ravenclaw," I said. "You should not be calling her names."

I opened the door, asking, "Hey Luna, would it be all right if we joined you?"

The girl beside the window looked up. She had straggly, waist-length, dirty-blond hair, very pale eyebrows, and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. She smiled, and then nodded.

Luna watched them over her upside-down magazine, which was called The Quibbler. I seem to remember her father was the editor. My uncle always said it was a pile of rubbish, and none of it was true. Ironically, now the same could be said for the Prophet.

Nobody else seemed to want to speak to her.

"Did you have a good summer?" I asked to break up the silence.

"Yes I did, thank you, how about you?" she asked.

She had a very sing-songy voice.

"You have a scar," she said, dreamily. "You didn't have one before."

Neville tensed next to me, looking at her apprehensively.

"Yeah, I got into an accident," I said softly.

"Scars tell stories," Luna went on, smiling at me. "They're beautiful."

I could not say I agreed with her but I felt Neville relax at least.

He proceeded to tell me about how his grandma had found him a very special plant with I name I could not remember, he'd said it so fast from excitement.

I could listen to Neville talk about plants for hours though, even if sometimes I had no clue what he was talking about. His enthusiasm was very enjoyable to watch, since he could be so shy and quiet at other times.

Ron, Hermione and Claire turned up after an hour.

"I'm starving," said Ron, stowing Pigwidgeon next to Hedwig, grabbing a Chocolate Frog from Harry and throwing himself into the seat next to him.

He ripped open the wrapper, bit off the Frog's head, and leaned back with his eyes closed as though he had had a very exhausting morning.

"Well, there are two fifth-year prefects from each House," said Hermione, looking thoroughly disgruntled as she took her seat. "Boy and girl from each."

"And guess who's a Slytherin prefect?" said Ron, still with his eyes closed.

"Malfoy," replied Harry at once, seemingly more bitter than usual.

" 'Course," said Ron darkly, stuffing the rest of the Frog into his mouth and taking another.

"And that complete cow Pansy Parkinson," said Hermione viciously. "How she got to be a prefect when she's thicker than a concussed troll … Lexie would have been a better pick."

"She told me she expressly said to Snape she didn't want to be picked," said Claire. "She told him she wanted to focus on her classes more."

However, the term 'extracurricular activities' came to mind as a more suiting term. Not that she could ever tell Snape that.

"I thought she'd jump at the chance of patrolling the halls with Malfoy at night," Ron said, causing Harry to huff.

"Who's your other prefect, Claire?" I asked to cut the tension.

"Anthony Goldstein," she replied. "He seems reasonable enough, I think I can work with him well. I don't think Padma was very pleased I got selected. She thinks it's just because I lost Cedric."

"That's horrible!" said Hermione. "She's just jealous! I personally could not have picked anyone better for the job."

That seemed to make Claire smile. Seeing her smile was one of the best things in the world to me, even given the circumstances one of the few things that could make me feel good.

"We're supposed to patrol the corridors every so often," Ron told us, "and we can give out punishments if people are misbehaving. I can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something..."

Bella laughed, which was causing Neville to give her some more confused looks.

"You're not supposed to abuse your position, Ron!" said Hermione sharply.

"Yeah, right, because Malfoy won't abuse it at all," said Ron sarcastically.

"So you're going to descend to his level?"

"No, I'm just going to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine."

"For heaven's sake, Ron —" protested Hermione and Claire simultaneously.

And then, to disturb what had up until then been a peaceful journey, the Slytherins showed up. Malfoy seemed gleeful, his chest protruding forward to show off his Prefect's badge.

"Congratulations on becoming a prefect, Gibbs," he said to Claire, although it was a tad forced.

I was pleased to see Lexie beaming at him. Maybe them being back together meant he was willing to change at least, and although he had not begun to snap at Hermione, he seemed to be giving her the stink-eye. However, he kept his mouth shut, which was a first.

Lexie grabbed onto Malfoy's hand, which was when Harry burst out, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Lexie's smile had turned sour.

"Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention," drawled Malfoy, whose sleek blond hair and pointed chin were just like his father's. "You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone."

"Harry," I whispered to him, "don't start anything."

"Picking fights, Potter?" Lexie snarled. "Don't you think you should be staying out of trouble for a while? It hasn't been a week since your hearing, has it?"  
Malfoy looked at her proudly, for a second, pulling her closer.

"Tell me, how does it feel being second-best, Potter?" he asked, and for a second I had a feeling it had nothing to do with the Prefect's position.

He smirked when he saw Harry's jaw clench, then adding, "to Weasley, of all people."

"Shut up," Harry spat.

"Did I touch a nerve, Potter?"

Malfoy saw Bella then, looking her up and down.

"Another Weasley?" he said mockingly. "You people breed like insects, don't you?"

"Draco," Lexie said, the tone in her voice unmistakably clear.

He decided to not address the matter further.

"Where's McLaggen?" I heard a voice say softly.

I saw then that Blaise Zabini was standing behind them, looking around him nervously.

"Bella has dragon pox, she'll be staying home this year," Lexie clarified.

Malfoy looked about to say something unpleasant, then looked at his girlfriend and thought it better not to. From the corner of my eye I saw Bella grin.

"I just wanted to say congratulations on the new prefects positions," Lexie said, seeming to have realized it had been a bad idea. "I'll see you later."

Sniggering, Malfoy gave Harry a last malicious look and departed.

"I guess we can all agree that could have gone worse," I said, trying to be cheerful.

Ron, Hermione and Claire left the train a bit before we did, since they had to oversee everything, So Bella, Neville, Harry, Luna and I shuffled out of our compartment together.

We moved towards the carriages, when Harry came to a sudden stop and said, "Aren't the carriages usually horseless?"

At the same time, Bella let out a confused "Yes," I let out a resounding "No."

"They're still horseless," Bella said, puzzled.

"They've never been horseless," I replied.

Not that they were horses exactly, but if I had to give them a name I suppose it would be a horse. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither — vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats.

Before we could resolve this weird discussion, Lexie joined us with Zabini.

"It's okay if he joins us, right?" she said.

I nodded instinctively, glad she at least had the sense not to bring Malfoy.

I saw Zabini's eyes trace the scar on my face, and when Bella uttered, "It's quite rude to stare."

Zabini smiled politely, before purring, "Weasley's cousin, aren't you?"

"Billy," said Lexie quickly, as if she knew Bella would mess it up under pressure, "I met him briefly over the holidays."

"A pleasure," he drawled.

* * *

 **POV BELLA MCLAGGEN:**

"You can see them right?" Harry whispered to Janice. "What do you reckon they are?"

"Harry," I said calmly, "there's nothing pulling the carriages."

"Look!" he said, pointing in front of the carriage.

"I don't think they can see them, Harry," Janice said calmly.

"It's all right," Luna said, and apparently everyone was in on the conversation now. "I can see them too."

"You can?" said Harry, clearly surprised.

"Oh yes," said Luna, "I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."

That's not very reassuring, I thought to myself.

Then again, hadn't Janice also said there had always been horses pulling there carriages? I was convinced she was sane, for the most part.

I was sitting across from Blaise, who kept giving me funny looks.

I silently prayed he would let me be, instead of focusing on me now that he thought 'Bella' was gone for the time being. Mouthing him off certainly hadn't helped.

"Are you about to be Sorted, then?" he asked, his gaze not leaving me.

Harry was keeping a close eye on us, I could tell. I felt slightly more safe.

"Gryffindor," I said, "Professor Dumbledore took care of everything."

This was what Sirius had told me to say. He had assured me that only Dumbledore would come to hear of the situation, no other teachers. I certainly would hate for Snape to find out.

I would never hear the end of it, let alone what trouble Harry and Lexie would be in.

"A shame," Blaise replied, giving me a bemused smile. "However, not unsurprising. Standing up for a girl you just met in that fashion? Classic Gryffindor."

"I'm going to go ahead and take that as a compliment," I said, surprisingly coolly.

"Of course," he said, "I wouldn't be willingly sharing a carriage with Gryffindors if I thought of them as lesser."

Harry let out a disapproving huff, to which Lexie replied sarcastically, "That one you're allowed to think that of."

"Please," Janice pleaded.

"She started it-"

"Both of you," she said, her voice shaking. "This is first year all over again and I will not be having it! Not with everything that's happened-"

Her voice broke like I remember it doing at the funeral, and I wanted to hug her. I remembered I was not supposed to know her, but nevertheless I felt a sting when Neville Longbottom of all people hugged her before I could.

The carriage ride that had begun reasonably pleasantly had ended about as badly as the train journey. I knew all too well tensions would not disappear by themselves during the schoolyear.

The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.

The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in mid-air all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes.

Again I noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as Harry passed; I gritted my teeth and glared at them, as Harry tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.

I felt slightly guilty that I only now noticed Hagrid's absence.

"He can't just be gone, can he?" I whispered. "Please tell me he has a cold or something?"

There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know — from his mission — the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."

"Yeah, that'll be it," said Ron, but I could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"Who's that?" said Hermione suddenly, pointing at the staff table.

There was a woman sitting next to Dumbledore, she looked like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. She had a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes.

She was wearing too much pink for me to ever like her.

Harry gasped.

"It's that Umbridge woman!"

"She was at the hearing, wasn't she?" I asked. "My Dad mentioned her once, he loved her style of work, so she must be very loyal to Fudge…"

"She works for Fudge?" Hermione repeated, frowning. "What on earth's she doing here, then?"

"Dunno…" Ron muttered.

The Sorting Hat then proceeded to deliver a rather ominous song, reminding each of the four Houses to be united, rather than divided.

The Sorting Hat usually confined itself to describing the different qualities looked for by each of the four Hogwarts Houses and its own role in sorting them.

"I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?" said Hermione, sounding slightly anxious.

"And it wants all the Houses to be friends?" said Harry, looking over at the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy was holding court. "Fat chance."

"I think it just means we need to remember who the real enemy is," I said darkly.

"Who's to say he isn't?" he replied. "I didn't like the way that Zabini was looking at you either."

I was looking for something to reply to that, when Dumbledore commenced his speech.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students — and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

To that, Harry and I smirked at each other.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

I panicked slightly. Dumbledore had given no indication of how long Grubbly-Plank was going to replace Hagrid for.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the —"

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk.

I was perplexed at this display of utter disrespect.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."

She gave another little throat-clearing cough ("Hem, hem") and continued: "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

My dad approving of her was all I needed to know I hated her and that she had no business being at Hogwarts. Something about her made my skin crawl.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. I was proud to see McGonagall sharing a very pointed look with Sprout.

Umbridge went into a monologue which made it increasingly different to keep my attention on her, and my eyes went to the other tables instead.

The Hufflepuff table seemed to try and look at Umbridge simply for the case of being polite, though I noticed every few seconds or so they gazes drifted back to Janice, who was staring intently at her plate.

Claire was seated practically alone at the Ravenclaw table, with some first years who barely seemed to know her. I realized since all of Cedric's old friends were also mainly Hufflepuffs, she had practically no one in Ravenclaw.

At the Slytherin table, I quickly spotted Lexie with a frown on her face, her hand in Malfoy's. She leaned over to whisper something in Blaise's ear, who seemed to nod gravely. He seemed something akin to concerned.

While I was trying to make out the exact nature of his expression, his eyes shifted to me. We locked eyes for a few seconds, and I felt my face grow hot while I pretended to be very interested in Umbridge's speech again.

"… because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped.

"That was the most boring speech I've ever heard in my life," Ron said afterwards.

"There was some important stuff hidden in the waffle," said Hermione grimly.

"Was there?" he replied blankly.

"How about 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? How about 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited'?"

"She's right, you know," I offered to help. "Umbridge represents all the worst of the Ministry."

"Well, what does that mean?" said Ron impatiently.

"I'll tell you what it means," said Hermione ominously. "It means the Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts."

I was dreading going back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Don't forget," Hermione whispered in my ear, "you've been moved to the boys' dormitory."

I was really dreading going back to the Gryffindor common room.


End file.
